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For some reason, Jim Durrell and the Order of Canada just don’t seem to go together.

Durrell didn’t play the political game, was sometimes inappropriate as mayor of the nation’s capital, rarely hesitating to say exactly what he thought.

Despite that, Durrell is incredibly worthy of the award that was publicly announced Sunday.

Good on him.

As mayor, Durrell always had a vision for the city, and didn’t obsess with the costs associated with that vision.

A pro baseball team, the return of the National Hockey League, keeping the Canadian Football League alive in Ottawa, Durrell wasn’t afraid to spend money in his bid to keep the city vibrant.

Not always popular, Durrell is considered the last of the mega-project Ottawa mayors, looking to invigorate the city with mega-million dollar projects.

And that often came through big-league sports.

During one of the last interviews I had with Durrell while he was in office, during the very public period of time used to pressure him to resign because he had taken on the conflicting role as president of the Senators, he absolutely lost it.

With his back up against the wall, Durrell demanded to know what was wrong with being both mayor and president of the Sens.

When I, every so meekly suggested there was a concern he would use his position as mayor to pressure investors, well, Durrell started screaming, yelling, cursing. (As an aside, the Sun had recently come to town, the interview was at his home.)

He began swearing so vehemently, so loudly, so aggressively, I was unable to speak.

A Sun photographer was cowering in a corner, shyly begging to get a picture and get out, and Durrell’s wife Sam came into the room saying, “I don’t like what I’m hearing here.”

I was never sure if she was talking about me or her husband.

That was how he rolled.

At another time, I called him out when he used the city chauffeur to get to the airport for a meeting when he vied for the presidency of the Liberal party.

He wasn’t amused, and made sure Sun honchos knew it.

But with Durrell, there were no regrets.

He was his own man, and what he did was all about caring for the city.

If the media, or the public, didn’t get that or appreciate it, well, too darn bad.

Good on him.

Durrell, an insurance executive, was elected to Ottawa city council in 1980 and resigned as mayor in January 1991.

His Order of Canada medal caps off a year filled with tributes. In June, he was awarded the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, and three months later, was given the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In November, he received the Order of Ottawa.

Jeff Polowin, a former communications director for Durrell, said he wasn’t at all surprised by the honour.

“His success in the mayor’s office pales in comparison to his contribution to the community since he left City Hall,” Polowin said.“He has worked tirelessly to make Ottawa a better place to live and has set the standard for community involvement.”

Former Ottawa mayor and NCC board member
Jackie Holzman has lashed out at Mayor Jim
Watson, questioning why he didn’t intervene
earlier
on the recommendation of Tunney’s Pasture as
the
preferred site for a new Civic hospital.